Group Buy on Intercoolers?

DivineE · Jul 3, 2007

I'm currently getting a front mounted intercooler made up through a friend with some contacts in the motorsport industry. It would be along the lines of the Speed force racing design which sits in front of the radiator rather than under the badge panel. For more details on the location and fitment go to...(http://www.speedforceracing.com/productsporsche_intercoolerupgrades.php) as the fitment will be identical.

The company who are doing this for me will not usually deal with the general public so unfortunately I will not be able to organise this again but if I can get a few people together we should get a pretty good deal.

He has looked at the speed force racing intercooler as a basis in order to get the measurements and fitment correct but is very confident that he can improve on their design which he described as typically American and quite basic. He has assured me that the finish and quality of the finished product will also be far higher.

The cost for me to get one for myself would be somewhere between £400-450 which is just slightly less than the cost of the speed force racing version and also has the advantage of no shipping costs. However if I can get a group of people together and order a batch he has said the price will come down. Ideally he has said 8 or more would give the best cost per unit but if anyone wants in on the opportunity we would still get a good deal.

Obviously I am not out to make any profit on this other than the benefit of a reduction in unit price but hopefully this will provide a good opportunity for people to replace an item which at least I have found there is no readily available replacement for in the UK (or at least not for reasonable money).

The only thing that would not come with the intercooler is the hard pipes extensions that are included with the speed force racing one that connect up to the original intercooler positions. Jon Mitchell at 9xx has said he can produce these quite easily so if people are interested obviously either I could get these for you or you could get them from Jon if you wish? I am based in Northampton and my car is in Bournemouth with Jon so people could either collect from me or Jon depending on location?!

Please no dreamers because I need actual figures for numbers of production but if anyone is seriously interested or has further questions please post on this thread and I will find out the information for you. I am also going to try and persuade the chap to build me mine first next week so that I can take photo's and post them up here.[

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sawood12 · Jul 3, 2007

Just out of interest what is the advantage of mounting the intercooler in front of the main radiator rather than in the badge panel where it is receiving nice clean air from the slot above the registration plate? Is it so you can fit a larger intercooler that wouldn't fit in the badge panel?

DivineE · Jul 4, 2007

Yes no space so you'd have to start cutting bits of metal out of the car to fit anything bigger under the badge panel. Also I'm guessing now but I would think the air can escape better and so flow through more easily if the intercooler is out in the open at the front of the car?

John Sims · Jul 4, 2007

This is much better for the intercooler but not necessarily as good for the radiator as it will be receiving pre heated air.

That said, the intercooler will only be hot when the car is moving so there should be plenty of air available to cool both.

Not wishing to urinate on your parade Ben but, unless the UK source is stupidly cheap the strength of the £ over the $ makes the SFR solution look the best. I wouldn't under estimate the price of the hard pipes.

That said my personal experience of SFR is they are a pain in the bum to deal with. They ask you fabrication questions about your purchase after you have phoned them to find the whereabouts of your product which supposedly has been "lost in the post". You figure ! [8|]

berg944 · Jul 4, 2007

This is much better for the intercooler but not necessarily as good for the radiator as it will be receiving pre heated air.

That said, the intercooler will only be hot when the car is moving so there should be plenty of air available to cool both.

Correct.

I have the cheaper version...............standard intercooler, upside down, back to front, mounted very low down in front of the rad.

Mike[:'(]

sawood12 · Jul 4, 2007

Had a look at the SFR website today and this install does look tasty - especially when you mount an additional oil cooler behind the badge panel. I would love to participate in the group buy but i've got my eye on a few other things at the moment and unless the cost of the setup is slashed significantly I don't think I can participate.

I'm surprised that with the vast array of different shapes and sizes of intercoolers you see bolted onto the front of Scooby's that there isn't one suitable for 944's. Seems a bit of overkill to have to get them from specialist suppliers or specially fabricated for what is ultimately a pretty simple and unsophisticated piece of kit.

I suppose a benefit of mounting the intercooler in front of the radiator is that it will benefit when the fan cuts in and draws air through the system.

333pg333 · Jul 5, 2007

Actually if you read the SFR website you don't get the hard pipes with the i/c. You have to purchase them as an extra. It is a bit misleading as they show them in the pics with the prices! There is also a lot depending on the core. The guy that I am getting a similar one custom made by down here also had a similar reaction to ones made in the USA as your guy. The ones my guy does are works of art and they have the best quality cores which won't create a problem for the radiator. Having said that the stock ones are pretty good up to a certain hp car. Stock hp or only just a bit warm probably doesn't really need it. Nice but not neccessary from what I gather. Also don't be concerned with longer hard pipes increasing the time of the air flow. This is a bit of a furphy (sp) as the system is pressurized.

jackregan · Jul 5, 2007

ORIGINAL: sawood12

I suppose a benefit of mounting the intercooler in front of the radiator is that it will benefit when the fan cuts in and draws air through the system.

Thats true but the fans seem to run when stood still in traffic more, so the question is is there any noticeable benefit to be had for spending on this? Or will it be another shiny bit that just looks good?

Jack

DivineE · Jul 5, 2007

Yes I would just like to confirm that when SFR say the hard pipes are included what they mean is just the two elbow pieces that take it to the standard location not their separately available shiny hard pipes as pictured. The included pipes are roughly 10-12cm long and not polished, I don't think they will be costly to re-produce. I am currently in fact trying to call in a favour and persuade someone to make me some up for just the cost of the materials so we'll see how that goes.

Also John, I asked them about the loss of cooling to the radiator and they assure me that if you use the right intercooler then the effect on the radiator will be negligible. Given they recently designed and fabricated the radiators and intercoolers for the diesel land speed record car I'm confident that they know what they are talking about.

To be honest I wasn't sure what the reaction would be to a group buy. I would have felt guilty if I'd turned up with a shiny custom intercooler without asking people but since there's less in it than I thought between the cost of the SFR version and what I can get I'll stop getting over excited.

sawood12 · Jul 5, 2007

ORIGINAL: jackregan

ORIGINAL: sawood12

I suppose a benefit of mounting the intercooler in front of the radiator is that it will benefit when the fan cuts in and draws air through the system.

Click to expand...

Thats true but the fans seem to run when stood still in traffic more, so the question is is there any noticeable benefit to be had for spending on this? Or will it be another shiny bit that just looks good?

Jack

Well the intercooler is an often overlooked part of the system and in my view is one of the principal and most improtant parts due to the significant increases in charge temperature with pressure. There is a hell of alot more O2 molecules in your charge at say 1 bar of boost if you can cool it down a few degrees - it's almost like another compression cycle. As to it being another shiny peice to glare at - absolutely - bring it on!!